kungfoodude

I don't think that college statistical production has been historically a high predictor of success for DL specifically. I would have to go look back at that data to be sure of that. Projections are extremely nuanced with a lot of factors, as you are well aware. For a guy with 40 games of college experience, I am always bothered by the "raw" and "undeveloped" labels. So, why haven't you developed, exactly? Especially when you are at a place that has top 5 resources when it comes specifically to developing players. Hence my question. What makes him pop more than some of these other prospects on film? I personally don't see it. I see a guy that is a quality edge setter that might eventually be a quality pass rusher. Say, a poor man's Jadaveon Clowney? Is that valueless? Absolutely not. Is that a top 10 talent, I don't think it is, even in a weak draft in terms of elite talent.

Yes but a top shelf WR is worth more than a rotational pass rusher. There is nuance to all of these evaluations. Let's hope we have more hits than misses. We can't really afford to have our many years of poor drafts continue.

I definitely agree on pass rusher being the most pressing need however I would also say important that we don't hamstring ourselves in terms chasing need when we have a roster as needy as we have. If BPA is a WR, so be it. If BPA is a pass rusher, so be it. So on and so forth. Let's just focus on getting quality football players that can make a distinct two deep impact. If this isn't the draft that we can land an elite pass rusher, we likely are looking at a top 10 pick again next season, so I would hate to get antsy, reach and end up with a bust we are saddled with for 3-4 seasons.

I love those guys and Grant I think is a far safer pick than Graham. But, all that being said, those should be trade down targets. Which, as I have said many times, I am hugely in favor of. This draft is so loaded with two deep/rotational contributors that we should be maximizing the top 90 picks we can get. If we could get, without trading substantial future draft capital, 5 picks in the top 90 I think we could position ourselves for a HELL of a draft.

Oh yeah, he will always be a beloved player in my eyes. I don't love his free agency moves overall but I think he makes calculated moves that are possible to pivot away from if we don't hit, which is honestly potentially the first guy at GM we have ever had that consistently does that. That's huge because even when his moves stumble we can recover. The Burns deal I think was cemented when Fitterer royally fuged that up. Dan's hands were ultimately tied by market forces and also the info that leaked. He was set up to fail in that situation.

Yeah, I am not sure about that. Bryce showed flashes of being the "super processor" I personally thought he was in the home stretch last season but I can't swear his ceiling is appreciably higher. I fuging hope so. fug my evaluation, we just deserve it as a franchise after all this BS we have delt with. I hope you are correct.

Barron is a good prospect but can you justify it if he ends up basically being a nickel? That seems like a luxury pick for us. Don't hate the player, hate the positional value at 8. Now a trade down option? I am all in.

I would hate Campbell as a top 10 pick in terms of positional value but generally do think he is probably one of the safest picks in the entire draft. In a draft that is pretty sketchy for elite talent, I would eventually be okay with this kind of guy even at 8.

Dan I am generally disappointed in overall. I think he is an averagish NFL pro personnel guy but leans heavily Fitterer in terms of college prospects. But, even IF he fails here, I am gonna always love him as a player. I hope our fanbase can be big enough to separate him the GM vs. him the Panthers great. That's tough for the Huddle as the place that shamefully bullied him as a player when he was here.

I generally disagree. I think people legimately underestimate the "NFL bubble" that Sanders developed in. But, I also said Bryce was the best prospect in his class so that didn't exactly pan out yet.

I would counter that guys like Carter who have popped in those same loaded defenses didn't need the qualifying statements about "being loaded." It's easy to see the potential, however his theoretical ceiling is definitely lower than a guy like Shemar Stewart. But that isn't the whole story, is it? Why do you think Williams will develop where other prospects will not? Especially when he has been largely a top tier edge setter and nothing close to that as a pass rusher in his college career? He has been VERY consistent in his three years in college.

I will take that bet.

I don't have much in the way of faith, to be honest. But.....I am glad to see they are operating at least like a real NFL franchise again. Low bar, yes, but we have been operating like a fuging minor league baseball team for most of Tepper's reign.

Agreed. I think he is a bigger, far more mentally prepared Bryce to some extent. I do think he ends up being the best QB of this class but I am unsure that will be more than just a league average starter.

TBH, I would be absolutely floored with a 7 win season. That sounds sarcastic but I do believe that is a very, very good result(there is some nuance, obviously). If we look moderately competent and also show improments on offense and defense, I think we all need to be happy as fans. I still think a lot of our fanbase is firmly head in the sand about how terrible this roster is/was. This is not a small undertaking. We need to asjust expectations accordingly or there will be much needless wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Sanders biggest flaws are his physical limitations. Not a great athlete, not great arm talent. I think it's all about the system he ends up in and the protection he gets. Could be Drew Brees, could be a poor man's Geno(not as physically gifted as Geno, IMO).

I would say that I would genuinely be very surprised to see him be as successful as YGM.

I think we are sadly very far away. It's a team still largely comprised of PS to 2nd string level players. You don't fix that quickly and, truthfully, an attempt to fix it quickly is likely to do more harm than good. You can see based on the general mid-20's age range of a lot of our signings that we are not attempting the Rhule/Fitterer era "one or two players away" horseshit that ended up digging us this massive hole.

I would say PRE-DRAFT that 3-7 games is a reasonable range of expectations for wins. As you say, if we can see some steps forward, even if only moderate, that will be the sign this is at least moving in the correct direction. I also think the group will get a little more rope. Say, Rhule-ish. By season three, I think the seats will be pretty hot, however. We have to produce in 2026 or I think Tepper tears it apart again.

I am not sure I have ever seen a team as bad as ours ever do that. Keep in mind this is the second worst roster in franchise history, only eclipsed by the 2024 roster. Make no mistake, this is digging out of our rock bottom. Or it better be the rock bottom.

That is insane and unrealistic.

I don't see a path forward for Kochetkov in the head. It's sad we don't have the ability to send him down to the AHL to work his poo out. I just don't think he will recover this season/postseason. Rod really fuged him up bad.

Highly unrealistic. We are heavily telegraphing that we will take a DE/EDGE in the first two rounds.

This is something I have been repeatedly trying to warn Panther fans of. This is gonna be a pretty bad team next season. The W's and L's are going to matter less(to a point) than if we start to look like the bones of a functional roster emerge. There is no quick fix coming. This is going to take time and a healthy dose of competent roster building to turn around.

Mykel seems like a fairly low ceiling and VERY low floor guy. Outside of the measureables, he very much looks like he is on the Shemar Stewart end of the scale. I would be very disappointed to see him taken at 8. Late 1st, early 2nd I can understand.